Time and Again
by PuffofLogic
Summary: Rose has found her Doctor, but has The Doctor found his companion?
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: I don't own it. Probably for the best too...**_

_**AN: Yes, another reunion one, maybe a little different. I'm not terribly impressed with it, but it wouldn't leave me alone. Read, Review and Enjoy!**_

The alarm buzzed loudly, and Rose opened her eyes reluctantly. All she wanted to do was lie in bed, not doing anything, until sleep came again. But she had promised.

With a long, loud groan, she pulled herself up and slowly made her way around the still slightly unfamiliar bedroom. Pete had set up a job interview for her with Torchwood. Jackie had hassled her until she'd agreed to go, the couple made quite a team and as annoyed as Rose was for being directed, she admitted to herself that it was amazing to see them working together

She pulled on a modest hot pink shirt, a pair of clean jeans and quickly applied some makeup. Rose stood in front of a full length mirror, and looked herself over. She ran a hand through her hair, and plastered a smile on her face.

It faded as she watched, _not a chance_, she thought. _I can't even fool myself; no way I'm fooling Torchwood. Defender of the Earth my arse, _Rose felt her lip tremble and sat back on the bed fighting to hold back tears. Blinking her eyes angrily, she tried not to think about Norway, about the beach, about him. Of course, the memories came unbidden as they had for the past month.

He was gone, and she wouldn't accept it, if she knew the Doctor—and she did—he wouldn't let the void stop him, no matter what he'd said. But he hadn't come, an entire month and he still wasn't here. Rose had tried to go about her new life, but little things refused to make it easy. She'd go to make a call on her new mobile and think about her old one, sitting in her room, the one that could call across time and space, she hadn't eaten chips, and even a stray cat reminded her of him and all their adventures.

Rose shook her head fiercely, and stood up, checking her makeup quickly before stalking out of her room. Hearing her feet clomping down the stairs, she made an effort to lighten her steps.

Jackie was waiting for her in the kitchen. She turned to Rose, brandishing a clean frying pan in her hand, "'Bout time you were up! One o' these days you're gonna sleep right through the day, an' I'm _not_ fixin' you breakfast after nightfall!"

"It's fine mum! I'm up now, dressed and everything." Rose retorted gesturing at her clothed form.

"Oi, you're in one of your moods again. Shoulda guessed with the plates clanking in the cupboard 'cause of your stompin' down the stairs!" Jackie waved the pan toward the dishes.

"Mum, just leave it. I have to go." Rose made a dismissive motion and turned to the door.

For a moment, Jackie looked as if she was going to continue the conversation, but she just closed her mouth and stared at her daughter's receding back as the frying pan fell to her side.

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Rose fell with the door as it closed with a bump. A hand went to her forehead as she brushed the hair from her face. Squeezing her eyes shut tight in frustration, Rose thumped her body once against the door causing the lock to jangle before sucking in a deep breath, preparing herself to apologize.

These petty bickerings were getting more and more constant and, though she didn't want to admit it, her mother was not entirely to blame. In fact, Jackie had probably adjusted best of all to the new world, with Rose being on the opposite side of the spectrum.

Rose turned slowly to face the door and reached for the handle.

She froze.

An unmistakable sound began echoing through the air.

Him.

Rose turned and dashed down the street, bickerings forgotten, toward the source of the sound. An impossible hope rising like a phoenix in her chest, she dodged around the many people so completely oblivious to the drama unfolding. Rose threw an apology over her shoulder as she took out a young man leaving some unnamed shop, her speed never wavering.

The echoed wheezing slowed, then stopped.

Rose paused for a moment, barely winded from her sprint, straining her ears and eyes for some hint of the elusive ship.

A creak. A creak from a door centuries old, being opened and shut by a man not much younger.  
Rose spun toward the noise, her feet picking up the pace once again.

One corner turned, one fence hopped, and one rectangular, blue Public Call Box waiting.

She walked up to the familiar ship hardly daring to believe it was true. A flutter of brown caught her eye and she looked up from the TARDIS to see a long brown coat whip around the corner at the far end of the alleyway.

Hope, love, longing and many other emotions flared to life as she quickly followed. Turning the corner, Rose searched the sea of people. Her gaze zeroed in on a wild brown mass of hair.

There he was, standing in front of a shop window, just looking at the display. Time seemed to slow down as she walked closer.  
"Doctor."  
Mere meters from him, Rose finally dared say it.

The man, though he'd not been moving, froze.

After a moment, his head rose from the display, his body turned to her slightly and his eyes met hers.

Unshed tears blurred Rose's gaze as she stared at the Doctor,_ her_ Doctor. A disbelieving grin came unbidden to her face…then fled.

The Doctor had gone pale, a fact accented by his grey suit coat. His face showed only shock and a sorrow so deep he seemed to drown in it. No happiness, no love, no hope.

Rose's face crumpled into a questioning frown, her emotion still thick in her throat. "Doctor? Doctor, it's me. Are you all ri—?"

"Stop."

"What?" Rose pulled back.

"Stop. Now. Just don't."

"But Doctor—"

His eyes flashed. The Doctor took a step forward and, his voice hard, hissed through his teeth, "I said stop. Stop now. I don't care who or what you are, just stop."

He spun quickly to leave and walked past her, back to the alley. Rose, stunned, turned a moment after him and shouted. "Doctor!"

He, having just rounded the corner, took a step back, putting him in line to Rose. He slowly raised his head again to her, his face a mask of pain and anger.

Tears returned to her eyes, and through her emotion choked out one word. "Please."

The anger melted from his face, replaced by a look of longing that made her heart ache just to see it.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Then he vanished around the corner.

**_A/N: I decided to split it up into two parts, the second one should be up later today._**


	2. Chapter 2

**_A/N: Thanks for all the lovely reviews and all those who put this on their alerts. Glad to know you're enjoying it! As promised, the continuation._**

_"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."_

_Then he vanished around the corner._

Rose stood a moment. Everything she'd hoped for this moment had failed to pass. For one mad instant, Rose was tempted to give up. It was that very thought that spurred her on.

She tugged on her shirt, tucked her hair back, lifted her chin and sped around the corner to see that familiar brown jacket vanish into the TARDIS. She pulled out the thin chain around her neck to find the warm metal key at the end.  
Rose dimly noticed the white light beginning to flash, the wheezing building up around her as she shoved the key into the slot and burst into the ship a moment later.

She fell back on the door as it shut, as she had such a short time ago. She looked up to see The Doctor staring at her with an amazing mix of emotions on his face.

He stood at the TARDIS console, grey suit sleeves falling back into place as his arms went to his sides. The column's green light rose and fell evenly as The Doctor struggled with words. Confusion, anger, sorrow, and curiosity all battled for control of his expression.

Rose took a step forward, only to stop herself as she saw the brown jacket lying across one of the coral-like supports of the TARDIS' dome. This simple image brought a choked sob up from deep inside. "You always leave your coat lying around." Eyes shining, she looked up to the Time Lord. She forced a wobbly smile to her face, but it quickly faded.

"Why are you doing this?" The Doctor asked quietly.

Rose started to answer; it was easier to say the second time. "Because… I love—"

"No!" He interrupted quickly, eyes dark again. "Who are you, what do you want, and how did you get on my ship?"

"I have a key…" Rose began hesitantly. "Doctor, what's wrong with you?" She reached out to him.

He pulled away swiftly, "Don't call me that. Who are you?"

"Doct— it's me. It's Rose." Her eyes pleaded with him to know her but she was only met with more confusion.

Whatever he had expected; it wasn't that. Confusion and curiosity finally won the fight and his brow lifted.

"Rose?" He turned away from her, a hand ran through his hair, "Rose?" He looked back to her. "This is impossible."

"You usually like things that way." Rose managed to say.

He nodded distractedly, "Yes, yes, three impossible things before breakfast…" He paused again, "How do you know that?"

Rose forced the emotion from her voice and said only slightly shakily, "I travel with you, Doctor. I have for a long time now. About a month ago, we were separated from each other in the battle of Canary Wharf, yeah? The Cybermen and the Daleks? You said you wouldn't be able to come for me, but…I know you. I knew that you would find some way…"

Rose slowed her explanation as The Doctor whirled around the console, he didn't seem to be listening anyway. He paused at a screen, "That looks like a scar, that's what that looks like. How?" He waited.

The Doctor looked up at Rose, "How? How were…we separated?"

Taking a deep breath, Rose continued, realizing that The Doctor was going to keep quiet until he knew exactly what was happening, no chance for him getting it wrong then. "The Void. You sent the Cybermen and the Daleks to hell, and I almost ended up there too, but my dad from this universe got me out at the last second…" _From this universe…_ A sudden thought struck Rose, and it was confirmed as The Doctor popped up from behind the console with 3-D glasses on his nose.

"I've figured it out—" The Doctor began.

"You're The Doctor from this universe, not mine." Rose finished. She might've broken down in the light of this conclusion if not for the pout that found its home on the Doctor's face.

"I know that, I was going to say so," He waved a finger limply at the screen. "You see, there's a healed wound in time, right near the Torchwood headquarters, that's where you came in..."

They stood in silence for a moment or two.

"Why were you angry with me before?" Rose asked suddenly. "You couldn't have known me. And you wouldn't have been cross if you had."

The Doctor turned his gaze down, and fiddled with a lever. "Oh, no reason really."

Rose had spent enough time with The Doctor to know when a question was being avoided. She rounded the console nodding, "Right, you just go around being angry at people who call you Doctor. Of course, it's not as if it's your name or anything like that, I—"

"It's not like that." The Doctor spoke quietly. When he looked up the sorrow had again filled his eyes.

Rose stopped walking forward, immediately feeling guilty for pushing him, "I'm sorry, I just…"

"No, don't be sorry." The Doctor closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You look like her." His hand released and he opened his eyes to look at Rose. "You look like Lily."

"Lily?" Rose asked quietly.

He looked down, "Lily Taylor. She traveled with me." He looked Rose in the eye. "I loved her. And I promised I'd keep her safe." The Doctor's voice cracked and he stared intently at the console.

There was silence for a long while.

Just as Rose was about to ask, The Doctor spoke again.

"I promised that I would always keep her safe…and I got her killed." He kicked and the console suddenly. "I should've done something! Something I missed, someone I could've…" He pounded the controls with white-knuckled fists. "I killed her! I killed her, I killed her! Rassilon!" He rounded on Rose, who flinched back, "Why did you have to die?!"

Rose bit her lip in the face of the guilt crazed Time Lord. His eyes were wild and bright with unshed tears. His hands reached out to her, shaking, demanding an answer that would never come. Without hesitation, she grabbed hold of his hand, cool in hers.

The touch froze him. He stood stock-still; the anger vanished from his face, swept surely away. Then, slowly, she pulled him toward her. Arms wrapped around shoulders and breathing became hitched with sobs. Cheeks wet with tears, they comforted each other.

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Rose walked into the control room of the TARDIS to find The Doctor reclining, his feet resting on the console. He sat up as she came closer.  
"Are you doing all right?" He asked a hint of concern in his voice.  
"Yeah, fine. What about you?"

He brushed it off with a half smile, "I'm always all right."

Rose didn't bother to correct him. "So, I should probably be getting home…"

The Doctor nodded, "Right, I can drop you off in a jiffy." He paused. "A jiffy?" He glanced a Rose, "Is a flash faster than a jiffy? Or is it the other way around? What about three shakes of a lamb's tail? Does it have to be three? How fast is one shake?"

Rose walked down to the console. "Flash, one shake, two shakes, jiffy, three shakes."

The Doctor looked at her, mouth slightly open in wonder that his rambling had been cut short. He gathered himself, "Right then, three shakes of a lamb's tail it is." He looked down at the consol, starting up his ship.

A moment of silence.  
"Doctor?"

"Hmmm?"

"Three shakes was the longest one."

"Was it? I could've sworn it was jiffy." The Doctor set in the coordinates. "I could get you there in a flash if you'd like." He didn't look at her.

Rose felt a small surge of hope. "Three shakes is fine…Longer if you want."

There he looked up. "Longer? Well, if you have some time… I mean, we could take the scenic route…"

"I think I'd like that."

He grinned. "Would you?"

"Yeah." Rose smiled

"Me too."

**_A/N: Again, thank you all who reviewed; it is muchly appreciated. :D Hope you enjoyed it!_**


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